Rare images from space capture the phenomenon of `lightning sprites` over Mexico.

Arab Weather - NASA satellites recently captured rare and unique images of a phenomenon known as a "transient luminous event," above violent thunderstorm clouds in the skies over Mexico. Scientists described this footage as a valuable opportunity to study one of the strangest electrical phenomena in the atmosphere.

Lightning heading into space

Unlike conventional lightning, which strikes from clouds to the ground, transient lightning shoots from the top of the clouds upward into outer space. The phenomenon begins as a bright white bolt, gradually changing color to purple, orange, and then pink, before fading into fine filaments.

A phenomenon that only occurs during violent storms.

This phenomenon only occurs above deep cumulus clouds associated with severe storms, and was first scientifically observed in 1989, although pilots had been reporting it for decades. However, because it occurs at high altitudes of between 50 and 100 kilometers, it was extremely difficult to see without specialized equipment or space photography.

NASA releases an image of an extremely rare weather phenomenon.

Its name is "transient lightning" and it only occurs above clouds with severe storms and was not scientifically discovered until 1989.

In this phenomenon, lightning comes from the bottom up, heading into space. It starts as a bright white bolt, then turns purple, then orange, and finally... pic.twitter.com/4WWvAOl4XM

— Eyad Al-Hamoud (@Eyaaaad) July 4, 2025

Scientists: "A rare opportunity to understand upper atmosphere interactions"

Climate scientists and atmospheric physicists have expressed the importance of this image, emphasizing that it provides a valuable opportunity to understand how electrical charges move in the upper layers of the atmosphere and the impact this has on the magnetic and environmental fields around planet Earth.